Afterlife
by Serpent Tailed Angel
Summary: Sequel/epilogue to Poltergeist. Two decades have passed when Erza passes away on a job. Jellal is tasked with teaching her the rules of being a ghost and the powers that come with it, but both are more concerned with their reunion than what comes next.


You look older."

"I'm starting to sag, you mean."

Jellal shook his head. "I wasn't going to say it."

Erza laughed. "You look exactly how I remember you, Mr. Angel, but I suppose it's because you were younger when you died."

"You don't need to call me that."

"But I take it you'll still be my guide."

Jellal nodded and turned his back to her. "Follow me."

With no way to turn that comment into a joke, Erza had little choice but to let an awkward silence envelop the two of them as she followed Jellal through the ornate gates.

It was a beautiful place, though not quite what she'd imagined from sermons. The afterlife lacked the many fountains and meadows she'd imagined, but there was still something peaceful about it. In fact…

"It almost looks like Magnolia… like a nicer Magnolia." Erza declared as Jellal lead her past a large, lone tree in the middle of a park.

"Trash doesn't pass on to the next life." Jellal told her. "Otherwise, it should look the same."

"There are less people here." She noted.

Jellal nodded. "There are a number of…" he grasped with his hand for the right word "of layers, I suppose. Once one layer fills up with spirits they create a new one-the people in charge. I'm actually supposed to be in a different version of Magnolia, but I'll be staying here for a little while. There's only so much to do in a new empty layer like this one, so I'll visit from time to time to keep you from getting _too_ bored."

"You could just teach me to cross into other layers." Erza pointed out.

Jellal shook his head. "The real angels don't like that very much. You have to get special permission. I help them out to pass the time, so they usually let me do what I want. Here. I thought you might like this place."

Erza gasped. Jellal had stopped her right in front of the guild hall. "It's…"

"A little empty." He admitted. "A few other Fairy Tail wizards are in this layer. Makarov is usually here, if you want to see him."

Erza gazed at the wooden doors, thinking about it. It had been over a decade since the old master had passed away. She'd want nothing more than to see him again, but… "Maybe when the tour is over. It's been longer since I saw you."

"It's not much of a tour." He'd been hoping for a chance to step away from her. Even though he'd begged for permission to do this, even though he'd spent days preparing himself, he hadn't been ready to see her. "All I really have to do is explain the rules of the afterlife to you. No haunting and such. You can see him first."

"If that can all wait for a conversation then maybe I can catch up with you first. Mind if we go to my house? It was built long enough back that it should be here… right?"

"Anything in the real world when this layer formed will be here." Jellal confirmed. "Lead the way."

For his sake, Erza let him spend the walk there explain that visiting those you knew during life was actually strictly forbidden, though you could see them again after they died, and it was the most common reason people would be allowed to visit other layers. "Which I guess is why Simon was the one who came to talk me down while I was following you around. We're getting along better now. He's finally forgiven me for… well, for killing him, and I stopped getting on his case about telling me to move on not too long after coming here. I really didn't like him then, though."

"I never heard about this."

Jellal shrugged. "I didn't have too clear a memory of him at the time. Besides, if I mentioned him-"

"Then I'd have known you were the ghost following me around." Erza's voice fell flat as they approached her home. "You should have told me."

"I did."

"_Before_ leaving. In person."

"Everything I told you I had to write down anyway." Jellal defended. His voice sounded a little weaker than he'd expected. He'd been more worried that _he'd_ be on the offense. "Is this where you lived?"

Erza bit back her retort and looked at the building. "Yes. This is our house."

"It's going to be empty." Jellal said, pretending he hadn't noticed the plural. "Furniture doesn't pass over either. Whatever you want should appear."

"That's okay. If this place has been around long enough to have Makarov, my house would probably be a mess. Those two always left toys everywhere." Erza chuckled to herself and strode forward. She was already through the door when she realized Jellal had stayed back on the street, failing to mask a look of pain. "Are you alright?"

"Fine." He forced a smile and stepped into the foyer after her. "You had kids?"

Erza nodded. "Me and Gray. He was… I mean, we were already living together, and I was really distraught when I first saw your grave. He was really supportive while I tried to pull myself back together and… and somehow we ended up married." It had all just flowed so seamlessly from friendship to lovers. "Juvia started praying that you'd come back to haunt me again."

"No. You needed someone living." Jellal said. "I'm happy for you."

"You don't look happy." Erza noted.

"I'm not too happy for myself." He confessed. "Still, Gray did seem like a good person, and I've had plenty of time to accept that the two of us were…"

"Impossible."

"Yes. Seeing you here, so soon, it just brought back some old memories." It wasn't entirely the truth, but it hadn't hurt quite as much as he'd thought to learn she'd married. "And it's a good thing you found a live man. If both your kids' parents were ghosts that would be a big problem."

Erza laughed. "Yeah. My older one could easily take care of himself, but Amy's a bit younger. We… only planned for one." Erza confided. "I hope Gray can handle them without me."

"How did you die?" Jellal asked, now that he finally had the opening for the big question.

"You first."

"Poison, I think." Jellal shrugged. "They made a huge performance out of it. The council paid to have the prison I was in fake a gas leak, and we all had to get treated for it. While everyone else was getting a placebo I was injected with something lethal." He held up his hands and gestured as if they were cuffed. "The safety precautions and unusual execution meant my magic was sealed when they did it, so I ended up a poltergeist. Most ghosts can't move things in the living world-oh, I need to explain the rules about visiting, it's not that hard-but even though all the angels can they're usually busy regulating the afterlife. They have me chase down other poltergeists or mediums."

"Mediums? Like people who contact spirits?"

Jellal nodded. "The people in charge don't like information about the afterlife getting out, so mediums that do that, or that try to contact family members, I'm sent after. You haven't answer my question yet."

"You aren't going to believe it."

"Try me."

"I tripped fighting a selkie." Erza admitted.

Jellal tried his best not to laugh.

"Alright, all things considered, I could have had a better death to tell you about, but it's _not_ funny." She insisted. "I have a ten year old daughter with no mom!"

"I'm sorry. You're right." Jellal conceded. "It's just…"

"Saving me from one was what made me open up to you."

"Yeah." Jellal wondered if Erza had noticed how many times she was finishing his sentence for him. "If you're ready to hear the rules now."

"Don't visit loved ones."

"And don't give details of the afterlife to the living, though you could only do that through a medium. There's also the etiquette of the afterlife and the different abilities you have as a ghost. You can still use your magic here. I can't, but-"

"But that's a pretty fair trade to be able to move objects in the living world."

"Right. I can still manipulate the afterlife the same as any other ghost, though." Jellal waved his arm towards the corner of the entryway and two chairs materialized. "We can go over this first, so your house won't look so barren."

Erza eyed the seats with suspicion.

"Sit." Jellal told her. "This usually takes a few days to go through. You're not the first person I've had to give lessens to. They make me guide newly dead whenever too many pass on at once for them to handle."

Erza took a seat. "If you help out so much, I suppose they're lenient on you."

"Well, the angels can only do so much to regulate poltergeists, but I got into enough trouble alive. I try to stay in their good books."

"Then you couldn't deliver a message to my kids for me."

Jellal offered her the most comforting smile he could. "They'd let it slide, just once. They aren't people _I_ knew after all."

"Thank you. And could you let Gray know I'm waiting for him."

Jellal hoped she didn't notice that he hesitated before saying "I'll try... no, I promise."

* * *

**STA**: I kinda toyed with the idea of making this sort of scene the final chapter of _Poltergeist_ but I decided to just leave it with Erza learning Jellal had died. Anyway, I got a couple reviews from people interested in what would have happened next (probably immediately after, not two decades later) The annoying ones were the reviews from the people who didn't notice that the whole point was that Jellal needed to move on and accept that he was dead. This was dedicated to them, and _not_ the people who told me to update without bothering to look and see that the story was listed as complete.


End file.
